The present invention relates to a blade scraping tool. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ergonomic blade scraping tool for scraping applications and the like, the blade scraping tool comprising an ergonomic hand gripping casing which is lightweight and easy to operate and which provides comfortable hand gripping. The blade scraping tool also has a long lasting logo.
Blade scraping tools, such as single edge blade scrapers, are very well known in the art. They generally include a hand gripping casing having a top covering case and a bottom covering case, a resilient trigger assembly disposed within the casing, a finger actuating portion that is part of the trigger assembly and projects from the casing through an elongated slot on the top covering case, and a scraping blade secured at the front end of the trigger assembly. The trigger assembly usually includes projections biasedly inserted into apertures on the top covering case of the casing, so as to enable the blade scraper to be either in a blade loading/unloading position, a blade scraping position or a blade storing position.
A problem associated with these types of scrapers is that the casing usually consists of a substantially rectangular frame which is typically made out of metal. The shape, in addition to the choice of material, makes handling and holding of the scraper fairly difficult and strenuous, especially when employing the blade scraping tool during long periods of time. Therefore, it would be very useful to provide a blade scraping tool having an ergonomic hand gripping casing enabling comfortable hand gripping and handling of the blade scraping tool.
Another problem associated with the above-mentioned types of scrapers is that the extremities of the slot on the top covering case usually correspond to the blade storing position and the blade loading/unloading position, with the blade scraping position lying between. Because these three distinct positions are not clearly differentiated, it has been found that several users usually bypass the blade scraping position thinking intuitively that the blade scraping position is at the furthest end of the slot on the top covering case, diametrically opposed to the blade storing position. Hence, users will often inadvertently start using the scraper with the blade in the loading/unloading position, thinking that it is actually in the blade scraping position. This has resulted in damages to the blade scraper, damages to the surface being worked-on, and injuries to the users of such devices. Therefore, it would be very useful to provide a blade scraping tool devised for easier operation thereof, such as to reduce the occurrence of the above-mentioned misapts.
Another problem associated with the above-mentioned types of blade scraping tools is that the loading and the unloading of the scraping blade onto the scraping tool is quite difficult to perform and poses certain safety risks to the users of such blade scraping tools. Therefore, it would be very useful to provide a blade scraping tool enabling an easier and safer loading and unloading of the blade onto the blade scraping tool.
Yet another problem associated with the above-mentioned types of blade scraping tools is that they comprise several elaborate components which are intrinsically interconnected to one another, thereby making manufacturing of such blade scraping tools quite laborious and consequently quite costly. Therefore, it would be very useful to provide a blade scraping tool comprising a much simpler design enabling an easier and more cost-effective manufacturing thereof.
Known to the Applicants are the following American patents and industrial design which describe different blade scraping tools: U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 346,319; 3,964,162; 4,712,269; 4,955,138; 4,890,351; 5,095,573; 5,107,593; 5,435,064; 5,713,232; and 5,996,231.
Although some of the above-mentioned patents or industrial design address the ergonomic aspect of blade scraping tools, none of them seem to disclose or even suggest a blade scraping tool which would overcome all of the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a blade scraping tool which would satisfy some of the above-mentioned needs, and would thus be an improvement over the blade scraping tools known in the art.
In accordance with the present invention, the above object is achieved by a blade scraping tool comprising:
a hand gripping casing having a front end and a rear end, said casing being formed of a top covering and a bottom covering connected to each other, said top and bottom coverings together defining an opening at the front end of the casing, the casing further including a slot extending centrally and longitudinally on the top covering, said slot having front and rear extremities;
a resilient plate mounted inside the hand gripping casing, the plate being slidably movable along the casing and comprising a push button extending outwardly from the casing through the slot and being slidably movable therealong;
a blade;
blade mounting means on which the blade is mounted, the blade mounting means being affixed to a front end of the resilient plate and being positioned and devised to slide through the opening of the casing;
interlocking means cooperating with the resilient plate and the top covering for locking the plate and the blade into a retracted position where the blade is entirely encased within the casing, the interlocking means further cooperating with the resilient plate and the top covering for locking the plate and the blade into an operating position where the blade is exposed through the opening of the casing for operation of the tool;
wherein the retracted position is attained by actuating the push button onto a first position along the slot corresponding to the retracted position;
wherein the operating position is attained by actuating the push button onto a second position along the slot corresponding to the operating position, the second position being closer to the front end of the casing than the first position; and
wherein a blade release position is attained by actuating the push button onto a third position along the slot, said third position being closer to the front end of the casing than the second position and allowing mounting and removal of the blade to and from the blade mounting means.
Preferably, the blade scraping tool further comprises a peripheral elastomer rim mounted along a portion of a periphery of the casing formed by the top and bottom coverings.
Preferably also, the elastomer rim extends continuously along the periphery of the casing from a left side thereof to a right side thereof, while passing by the rear end of the casing.
The invention and its advantages will be better understood upon reading the following non-restrictive description of preferred embodiment thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings.